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Battle of Endor
The Battle of Endor was the climactic battle that took place during the Galactic Civil War between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire in the Endor system. It saw the destruction of the Death Star II and the deaths of both Anakin Skywalker and Emperor Sheev Palpatine, as well as many major Imperial officers. The battle was an elaborate trap setup by the Emperor Palatine to destroy Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Alliance. Through a counterintelligence campaign, the Empire leaked the location of the construction site of the Death Star II and led the Rebel Alliance to believe that the battle station was lightly guarded and inoperative. When the Alliance Fleet arrived, it was met by the Imperial fleet along with a fully operational Death Star. The battle began on the forested moon of Endor where a Rebel strike team, led by General Han Solo, assaulted the shield generator protecting the Death Star II. With help from Ewok tribes, local inhabitants of the forested moon, the Rebel strike team was able to destroy the shield generator, allowing the starfighter attack, led by General Lando Calrissian on the Millennium Falcon, to enter the Death Star's superstructure and destroyed its reactor core. Above Endor, the Alliance Fleet, under the command of Admiral Gial Ackbar, engaged the Imperial Fleet, creating a perimeter for the starfighter attack. During the battle, Rebel Commander and aspiring Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker faced his father Darth Vader in combat aboard the Death Star's Throne Room, in order to kill the Emperor and end his reign. In the aftermath of the battle, Alliance forces worked relentlessly to defeat all remaining Imperial remnants on the forest moon, culminating in the assault on the Imperial outpost at the far side of Endor. Shortly after the battle, the Alliance began is transition to the New Republic. The death of the Emperor propelled the Empire into an accelerated decline as Imperial remnants struggled to maintain unity. The Alliance's success at Endor began a string of victories for the New Republic, culminating in the signing of the the Galactic Concordance, a historic peace treaty that ended hostilities between the New Republic and the Galactic Empire. ''Prior to the Events Unlike the Battle of Yavin, the last major battle between the Alliance to Restore the Republic and the Galactic Empire, which had taken place on the ice world of Hoth, had resulted in a disastrous defeat for the Alliance. The loss of the recently-established Echo Base forced the Alliance High Command to break the Alliance Fleet into small task forces that would constantly jump from one star system to another to prevent another defeat for Imperial propagandists to celebrate. Several months later, the Bothan spynet intercepted information that revealed the Empire was building a second Death Star in orbit over the forest moon of Endor. Thanks to the Bothan spies, the Alliance also learned that the Emperor himself was to oversee the completion of the Death Star, the construction of which was being overseen by Moff Tiaan Jerjerrod. Unbeknownst to the Alliance, the Emperor, secretly a Dark Lord of the Sith known as Darth Sidious, had foreseen the Alliance's plan and used this to his advantage. The Emperor would allow the Alliance to obtain incomplete information, tricking the Alliance into thinking that the battle station's superlaser was inoperable when in fact the battle station would be fully operational. In addition, the Emperor would hide a large fleet of Star Destroyers on the far side of Endor. A week later after the intelligence report reached Rebel Command, its leader, Chancellor Mon Mothma organized a top-clearance meeting on Zastiga to relay this information to the other Rebel leaders. Alongside Admiral Gial Ackbar, commander of the Alliance Fleet, and General Cracken, the chief of Alliance Intelligence, Mothma informed a number of top leaders to the meeting: Admirals Massa and Nantz, Generals Tantor and Veertag, Shrike leader Caluan Ematt, as well as the rest of the Alliance High Command—General Carlist Rieekan, General Crix Madine, and Princess Leia Organa. After swearing all the Rebel leaders to secrecy, Mothma adjourned the meeting for the next day. The group of leaders devised a plan whereby Alliance warships would engage the battle station's defenses, buying time for starfighters to enter the unfinished Death Star's superstructure to destroy its exposed reactor core. Prior to the arrival of the Alliance Fleet, a strike team of commandos from Madine's Special Forces would be sent to the forest moon to destroy the deflector shield generator protecting the superweapon—though they yet had to secure an Imperial transport to do so. They also decided to use the Sanctuary Pipeline, a hyperspace route that would allow them to go from Sullust directly into the Endor system. Princess Organa and a crew of rebels placed hyper-transceivers in the Corva sector as a part of Operation Yellow Moon. The hyper-transceivers would attract Imperial attention to Organa, deflecting the Empire's attention away from the fleet's gathering at Sullust. The operation was a success. In addition to successfully placing the hyper-transceivers, Organa and her team were able to destroy the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Shieldmaiden and steal the Lambda-class T-4a shuttle Tydirium, which would prove essential to the infiltration mission to the Endor moon. An Imperial fleet consisting of Star Destroyers, attack cruises, light cruisers and more gathered in the Hudalla system as a display of the Emperor's power. Their mission was to attract the Rebels attention and confirm the Emperor's arrival to Endor. In response, Admiral Ackbar sent Corona Squadron to observe the Imperial ships and obtain as much information as possible. Corona Squadron engaged in a dogfight against TIE/LN starfighters, during which Corona Three (Smikes) was shot down. Imperial forces allowed Corona Squadron to escape, hoping that the resulting counter-intelligence would lead the Rebels to believe that the Imperial Starfleet was dispersed. With the Alliance Fleet nearly assembled, wing leaders and other major players were briefed on plans for the upcoming battle by Chancellor Mothma, Admiral Ackbar, and General Madine. Admiral Ackbar would command the Alliance Fleet, providing cover for the starfighter attack. General Lando Calrissian would lead Gold Group and the rest of the starfighter groups in the attack against the Death Star's main reactor. General Han Solo, having recently been rescued from Jabba Desilijic Tiure on Tatooine, would take over command of the ground assault team from the recently-deceased Major Lokmarcha. Princess Organa, Chewbacca, and Commander Luke Skywalker along with his droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO, took the opportunity during the briefing to volunteer as the command crew to pilot the Tydirium and assist Solo and his strike team. After his arrival at the Death Star, and in spite of reports about the Rebel fleet massing near Sullust, the Emperor had his apprentice and servant, Darth Vader, send the Imperial fleet protecting his project to the far side of Endor, to stay there until called for. He also had Vader go to their main command ship, Vader's own Executor-class Star Dreadnought, Executor, to await further orders. Battle 'Ground Attack' Departing for the Endor system, General Solo's strike team consisted of the Pathfinders, among whom Tuck and Sergeant Kes Dameron served. As they entered Endor's orbit, they were faced by Executor and two Imperial-class Star Destroyers, and Solo requested that the deflector shield be deactivated and transmitted the clearance code for shield passage as ordered by a flight controller, under the watchful eye of Admiral Firmus Piett. As the Rebels awaited for the codes to be worth the price they had paid, Vader sensed the presence of his son, Luke Skywalker, aboard the shuttle and allowed them to land on the moon. After finishing the story at night, the head of the Council of Elders, Chief Chirpa, discussed with his two best hunters, Teebo and Asha Fahn, with input from their shaman, Logray. Though Logray believed they should not interfere for the safety of the tribe, Chirpa decided to aid the rebels, and thanks to Teebo and Asha's support, he was able to overrule Logray and announce that they would help the Rebel group, now members of their tribe. With C-3PO translating, Solo and the Ewoks agreed to set out for the shield generator first thing in the morning, but also to obtain fresh supplies and give their weapons back. At the same time, Skywalker chose to leave the village, as he had sensed during C-3PO's narration that Vader had landed on the moon. Aware that he could not hide from his father, he revealed to Organa that he was her brother, and Vader was their father. Skywalker then left her to face the Sith lord in combat alone. Subsequently, he turned himself over to a Imperial patrol in the woods. They proceeded to transport their prisoner on an All Terrain Armored Transport to the shield generator base, where he was greeted by Vader after his landing with the shuttle ST 321. After a short conversation in which Skywalker attempted to turn Vader to the light side, the Sith lord had Skywalker sent to the Death Star above. Meanwhile, the Imperial officer who escorted Skywalker went onto conduct a further search of the area for other rebels. Unbeknownst to both the Rebel team and the Empire, in the middle of the night, the Ewoks held a council of war in Bright Tree Village. Recalling the tribe members killed and the villages that were destroyed by the Empire, Chirpa convinced the village to take arms against the Empire, as did Asha, whereas Romba said it involved all Ewok tribes. In the end, Chirpa sent a messengers off through the forest to explain it all to the leaders of other tribes, and ask for their help. The morning after, when the Rebels awoke, they found the village nearly deserted, as those who were able to fight had left to prepare the battlefield under the leadership of Chirpa, Teebo and Asha. A few Ewoks—Romba, Wicket, and Paploo—remained there to help them find the easiest way to the rendezvous point, where Solo presented the Ewoks to the Pathfinders before going to a bit of high ground to get a first look at the military base and shield generator that he had promised to destroy, just as ST 321 departed, transporting Skywalker and Vader to the Death Star. Upon finding how heavily guarded the main entrance was, the Ewoks showed General Solo an alternate entrance, guarded only by a few Imperial soldiers. At the front of the entrance, Paploo stole a speeder bike to distract most of the guards. Led by General Solo, members of the Rebel strike team entered the bunker with intentions of planting the explosive charges to destroy the shield generator. However, as planned by the Emperor, an entire legion of his best troops awaited them, and flushed the strike team out of the bunker and held them at gunpoint. Unable to destroy the base in time, the arriving Alliance Fleet above was forced to engage the Imperial forces for longer than expected. Soon, however, the Ewok forces entered the fray; as they provided a successful distraction for the Rebel strike team, they also inflicted many casualties among the Imperial ground forces. During the confrontation, the Imperial forces scattered to fight the Ewoks, leaving the strike team to take up positions on each side of the bunker. As the door code was changed, Solo and Organa attempted to have R2-D2 open it, but a stormtrooper shot the droid, temporarily disabling him and leaving Solo to manually try and open the doors. Unbeknowst to them, Zabrak bounty hunter Jas Emari targetted Leia Organa; however, she decided against it, even though the Imperial bounty on her head was very high. 'Space Battle' Ready to lead the planned attack on the second Death Star, Admiral Ackbar, from the bridge of the MC80 star cruiser Home One, initiated the countdown to enter the Sanctuary Pipeline, and ordered all groups to assume attack coordinates. On his mark, the entire fleet jumped into hyperspace to arrive at the Endor system—all, except for Mon Mothma's ship, which after a moment, she ordered to take her to a safe hiding place to await news of the impending battle. High above the moon, the fleet reverted to realspace with General Calrissian leading the charge aboard the Millennium Falcon, alongside his co-pilot Nien Nunb, and their gunners Lieutenant Blount and General Cracken. Using the comlink, Calrissian had all wing commanders of his strike force report in: Red Leader (Wedge Antilles), Gray Leader, and Green Leader (Arvel Crynyd). Upon their leaders' orders, all starfighter squadrons locked their S-foils in attack position to initiate the attack on the Death Star. However, as Nunb realized there were no readings about the deflector shield, and their transmission likely were being jammed, Calrissian broke off the attack as he correctly surmised the shield was still up, and the leading Falcon and T-65B X-wing fighters peeled away just before hitting the shield. On the Home One, Ackbar ordered the capital ship to take evasive action, and that Green Squadron sticked close to holding sector MV-Seven, when one of his controllers informed him of the appearance of enemy ships in sector 47. As calculated by the Emperor, the Imperial fleet on the other side of Endor, composed by more than eleven Star Destroyers and possibly the largest flotilla of Star Destroyers ever assembled, shot out from their hiding place behind the moon, each one unleashing a swarm of TIE fighters, including TIE/LN starfighters, TIE bombers and TIE Interceptors against the Alliance Fleet. At the same time, the starfighter wings on rearguard mission (like Blade Squadron) had orders to cancel their mission and were reassigned to attack the Imperial fleet. After Calrissian destroyed three TIE fighter with the help of his crew and an incredibly risky maneuver, the Falcon barely avoided the stray fire from three TIE fighters chasing Antilles' X-wing across their path. After Calrissian's heads-up, Antilles ordered Red Two (Sila Kott)15 and Red Three to pull in, when another two TIEs came in, and Antilles ordered his accompanying fighters to cut to the left, while he took out the TIE leader. At the same time, the Falcon destroyed two other TIEs, but Antilles noticed the remaining three of the group headed for EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate Redemption. Antilles then knocked out the leader, but not before two X-wings were shot down and the Falcon took a brutal hit to its forward deflectors, and still more TIE fighters bombarded the frigate until the hull started to crack. It was then that Calrissian ordered all fighter squadrons to accelerate to attack speed and follow him to the encounter of the Executor, in order to draw Imperial fire off their cruisers. The remainder of the Alliance Starfighter Corps and a horde of TIE fighters that rushed to meet their attack collided in a furious cloud of ships, laser bolts, and proton torpedoes, flying in, out, around and sometimes into the Star Destroyers, and mostly producing minor victories for the rebellion. However, the Destroyers themselves would not use their countless cannons to pick off the Rebel fighters, with rare exceptions. The commander of the Executor had the ship maneuvered slightly away from the battle to have a clear shot at the Alliance cruisers, including Ackbar's command ship. However, on the Emperor's orders, Executor was to keep the Alliance Fleet from escaping only, although neither its commander or Admiral Piett knew why, and were eager to join the fight. Aboard the Vigilance, Admiral Rae Sloane ordered Sapphire Leader Maus Monare to reposition their TIE fighters in a perimeter defense and had his controllers send targeting solutions to the turbolaser crews. Assuming a defensive posture, she complied with Piett's fleet-wide orders to hold the line and keep the Alliance fleet from escaping, aware that it was part of their Emperor's plan. Above them, interdictor cruisers awaited in position to block the Rebels' retreat. On Blade Leader (Adon Fox)'s orders, his A/SF-01 B-wing squadron and RZ-1 A-wing interceptor escorts headed for Darth Vader's former flagship, Devastator, only for the Imperial cruiser to deploy two dozen TIE Interceptors, commanded by TIE commander Gradd. In their audacity, even as several B-wings were shot down, the squadron managed to engaged the TIEs in close proximity to Admiral Jhared Montferrat's Devastator. Moments later, both the Rebel and the Imperial fleets understood the extent of the Emperor's design—Palpatine, in the presence of Vader and Skywalker, ordered the Death Star's commander, Tiaan Jerjerrod, to fire when ready. Despite his reluctance, Jerjerrod gave the order, and the Alliance witnessed the firepower of the fully armed and operational Death Star when the Rebel star cruiser Liberty was destroyed by its superlaser. Taken aback by the attack, and with ships unable to repel firepower of that magnitude, Ackbar issued the order to prepare their retreat. However, General Calrissian convinced the Mon Calamari to continue the fight, and protect the cruisers by moving them as close as they could to the Star Destroyers, and engage them at point-blank range, hoping the Death Star wouldn't dare shoot into its own fleet. Despite the disadvantage, the Alliance forces managed to achieve a few victories—including the destruction of an Imperial-class Destroyer's shield generator dome, although it came at the cost of Red Five (Grizz Frix)'s life. Gray Squadron's Gray Three (Ekelarc Yong), whose craft was crippled by TIE/LN starfighters, was able to aim his craft toward the bridge of a nearby Imperial Star Destroyer. Green Squadron worked to damage the Executor on Crynyd's orders; against eight TIE fighters, they lost Green Six as they took down two enemy ships. Corona Squadron's leader, the Contessa, as well as Corona Two (Yendor), Corona Four (Thane Kyrell), and Corona Five (Kendy Idele), worked to damage the Star Destroyer Subjugator. Kyrell and Idele, former Imperial pilots, used their knowledge of the Imperial vessel's schematics and fired at the exact spots to hit, taking one of the Star Destroyer's engines, before engaging other TIE starfighters. Under the watchful eye of Emarr Ottkreg, Sloane suspected something was amiss when her executive officer Nymos Lyle pointed out that the Rebel fleet was not retreating despite the Death Star's attacks. She asked Lieutenant Habbel to keep her appraised of the Endor garrison. Concurrently, the Vigilance’s Sapphire Squadron skirmished with Rebel fighters and went to intercept a trio of Rebel CR90 corvettes that had survived the passage between the Rebel and Imperial lines. As their laser cannon fired continual barrages at the same point of the Vigilance’s protective shields, Sapphire Squadron complied with its orders to engage the targets and fire at will, destroying the corvettes with help of the Vigilance’s turbolasers. Meanwhile, Commander Ciena Ree took her TIE interceptor up over the main bridge area of the Annihilator, and cleared the top of the Star Destroyer. 'Death of the Sith' On Blade Leader (Adon Fox)'s orders, his A/SF-01 B-wing squadron and RZ-1 A-wing interceptor escorts headed for Darth Vader's former flagship, Devastator, only for the Imperial cruiser to deploy two dozen TIE Interceptors, commanded by TIE commander Gradd. In their audacity, even as several B-wings were shot down, the squadron managed to engaged the TIEs in close proximity to Admiral Jhared Montferrat's Devastator. Moments later, both the Rebel and the Imperial fleets understood the extent of the Emperor's design—Palpatine, in the presence of Vader and Skywalker, ordered the Death Star's commander, Tiaan Jerjerrod, to fire when ready. Despite his reluctance, Jerjerrod gave the order, and the Alliance witnessed the firepower of the fully armed and operational Death Star when the Rebel star cruiser Liberty was destroyed by its superlaser. Taken aback by the attack, and with ships unable to repel firepower of that magnitude, Ackbar issued the order to prepare their retreat. However, General Calrissian convinced the Mon Calamari to continue the fight, and protect the cruisers by moving them as close as they could to the Star Destroyers, and engage them at point-blank range, hoping the Death Star wouldn't dare shoot into its own fleet. Despite the disadvantage, the Alliance forces managed to achieve a few victories—including the destruction of an Imperial-class Destroyer's shield generator dome, although it came at the cost of Red Five (Grizz Frix)'s life. Gray Squadron's Gray Three (Ekelarc Yong), whose craft was crippled by TIE/LN starfighters, was able to aim his craft toward the bridge of a nearby Imperial Star Destroyer. Green Squadron worked to damage the Executor on Crynyd's orders; against eight TIE fighters, they lost Green Six as they took down two enemy ships. Corona Squadron's leader, the Contessa, as well as Corona Two (Yendor), Corona Four (Thane Kyrell), and Corona Five (Kendy Idele), worked to damage the Star Destroyer Subjugator. Kyrell and Idele, former Imperial pilots, used their knowledge of the Imperial vessel's schematics and fired at the exact spots to hit, taking one of the Star Destroyer's engines, before engaging other TIE starfighters. Under the watchful eye of Emarr Ottkreg, Sloane suspected something was amiss when her executive officer Nymos Lyle pointed out that the Rebel fleet was not retreating despite the Death Star's attacks. She asked Lieutenant Habbel to keep her appraised of the Endor garrison. Concurrently, the Vigilance’s Sapphire Squadron skirmished with Rebel fighters and went to intercept a trio of Rebel CR90 corvettes that had survived the passage between the Rebel and Imperial lines. As their laser cannon fired continual barrages at the same point of the Vigilance’s protective shields, Sapphire Squadron complied with its orders to engage the targets and fire at will, destroying the corvettes with help of the Vigilance’s turbolasers. Meanwhile, Commander Ciena Ree took her TIE interceptor up over the main bridge area of the Annihilator, and cleared the top of the Star Destroyer. 'Destruction of Death Star II' In the space battle, following the death of Blade One, Blade Squadron's leader was targeted by Gradd and proceeded to maneuver evasively just as Gradd fired his laser cannons; taking heavy damage, Fox executed a roll, taking Gradd by surprise as Fox killed him. Unable to continue, Fox gave the order to his group that if they made it past the fighter screen of the Devastator, they were to execute the primary mission. As Blade Two (Braylen Stramm) became acting commander, and Blade Four (Fanty) peeled out of formation, Blade Three (Gina Moonsong) went onto unleash proton torpedoes on the weak points of the Devastator’s navigational shielding, destroying its hyperdrive and primary generators, and causing the ship to undergo systematic demolition. Like the Devastator, the Pride of Tarlandia had been heavily damaged and not responding to hails, while both the Vehement and the Tector-class Star Destroyer Harbinger had been destroyed. As for the Vigilance, although three bow deflector generators and one dorsal unit had been damaged, the auxiliary units had kicked in, and the shields had held, while Sapphire Squadron had lost six pilots. Admiral Sloane then had her crew prepare navigational and firing solutions for two different scenarios—either a mop-up operation to disable or destroy the remaining Rebel ships, or pursuit of the nearest concentration of enemy ships should the Rebel fleet break off the attack and flee. On the moon below, while the Ewok forces continued to fight the Imperials, Chewbacca, Widdle and Wunka hijacked an All Terrain Scout Transport, after taking its drivers out, Blanaid and Major Newland, and made their way to the bunker. After Organa was injured by a stormtrooper, they arrived and Solo used the vehicle's video comlink to impersonate an Imperial and trick the bunker personnel into thinking the Rebels had been routed and were fleeing into the woods. Claiming they needed reinforcements to continue the pursuit, the base commander opened the door and sent a squad, which was promptly captured by the Rebels. General Solo and his men then placed the explosives and destroyed the shield generator. High above the exploding generator, Ackbar announced the shield's deactivation and order the start of the attack on the Death Star's main reactor. As Stramm informed Ackbar that Calrissian's path was clear after the Devastator’s destruction, he had all surviving units of his group to pull into formation (himself, Moonsong and Fanty), and the squadron went onto help the other fighter wings in their attack against the battle station. Another B-wing pilot, Ten Numb as Blue Five, helped in the assault. On Crynyd's orders, his squadron's members—Green Four, Seven, and Three—protected the Millennium Falcon on its attack run to enter the Death Star. Complying with its original mission, Corona Squadron also protected the Falcon and its accompanying squadrons as it made its way to the battle station. Aftermath Watching the exploding Death Star above them, Organa revealed to Solo that Luke Skywalker was her brother and then kissed Solo. Alliance troops then rendevoused at Bright Tree Village. In solitude, Commander Skywalker cremated his father's armor in a funeral pyre, then joined the celebration at Bright Tree Village with his sister and friends. Luke reported to the Alliance that both the Emperor and Vader died during the battle. Rebel pilots docked their starfighters in the fleet's capital ships or landed on the planet below. Although General Crix Madine was worried of an Imperial counterattack, personnel were shuttled down to the moon, where both the Alliance and the Ewok tribes celebrated their victory through the night, with many troopers drinking copious amounts of jet juice. During the Alliance celebrations on Endor, ISB Loyalty Officer Sinjir Rath Velus, who had been stationed at the Endor base, took the opportunity to reconsider his life. Velus abandoned his post, killed a Rebel Pathfinder and stole the pathfinder's clothing and identity. At some point, during a short and to-the-point ceremony held on a flight deck, an admiral spoke of duty, sacrifice and heroism, before proceeding to award a Medal of Bravery to all B-wing pilots who had survived the battle—after which all the ceremony participants headed back to their duty stations; all leave were as of then cancelled. he festivities would extend to other parts of the galaxy, as the Alliance sent word of the battle's outcome and the Emperor's death, and sent out mass communications claiming to be the new power in the galaxy. That same day, Organa sent out a holographic transmission to places such as the Anoat sector, relaying the news of the Empire's defeat and urging citizens to take up arms against the remaining Imperial forces. Anti-Imperial protests erupted on several worlds such as Bespin, Tatooine, Naboo and and even the Imperial capital of Coruscant, by this time Imperial authorities realizing that the war in their own galaxy was lost, decided to abandoned the Star Wars Universe and concentrate on a their order in the Milky way Galaxy, before the main New Republican counter attacks against the Imperial held core worlds, the Galactic Empire mobilized what military force they had left composing of about 9,000 vessels, in order to begin the galactic wide Evacuation of the home galaxy, this would eventually leave the Core worlds vunrable, to the New Republic months later. Trivia'' Category:Galactic Civil War Era Category:Galactic Civil War Category:Engagements of the Galactic Civil War Category:4 ABY